Also, Nygren and co-chair, Senator Alberta Darling, questioned a growing reserve at the Group Insurance Board, wondering why the money wasn’t used to reduce health care costs to consumers.

Nygren and Darling said they’ll request an audit of the Group Insurance Board, by the legislature’s Joint Audit Committee.

The Finance Committee is supporting Walker’s plan to eliminate the state portion of property taxes — although the panel held off on a vote Wednesday.

Most property taxes are levied by school districts and local governments, but a small portion is collected by the state, as a means of maintaining Wisconsin’s forests. Eliminating that would save about 25 bucks on the property tax bill for a median valued home.

Also on Wednesday, Nygren and Darling said they’re rejecting the governor’s plan to end publication of the Wisconsin Natural Resources magazine by the DNR. The bi-monthly magazine picked up subscribers on word the governor planned to axe it. Darling said that by way of a compromise, it will be published four times a year.

A controversial bill to change Wisconsin’s open carry law received a public hearing Wednesday at the Capitol. “Constitutional carry” allows gun owners to carry concealed without getting training or state permits.

Milwaukee Democrat, State Senator Lena Taylor, has a problem with that. “I voted for concealed carry. I believe that people have a right to carry. But I believe that some levels of restriction are appropriate,” Taylor said.

The bill had a hearing before the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee, chaired by Racine Republican Van Wanggard. “This bill does not preclude somebody from receiving training,” noted Wanggard, a former law enforcement officer who said he believes people who carry should get training. The current requirement is only four hours. This bill also essentially nullifies the state’s gun free schools statute, although districts may still post their schools to prohibit weapons.

The bills’ Senate author, Republican David Craig, said his bill mirrors gun laws already in place in 12 other states, “from relatively conservative Arizona, to Bernie Sanders own home state of Vermont.”

The bill has the support of the National Rifle Association, whose lobbyist Scott Meyer testified in favor of it. Meyer said the gun rights organization has learned that many people can’t afford training. “What we also learned . . . one of the great equalizers after the Emancipation Proclamation, was firearms ownership for the blacks.”

Taylor – who is African-American – objected to Meyer’s choice of words. “That wasn’t a great way to say it, don’t say ‘the blacks,'” Taylor said.

Wanggard said he had no immediate plans to schedule a committee vote on the bill.

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is no stranger to higher political aspirations. He was among several Republicans who ran for president in 2016. Recent moves by Republican Governor Eric Greitens have led to questions about his future ambitions. There’s been talk about him possibly eyeing a future run for U.S. Senate, Vice President and President.

One example is Walker’s attendance at Greitens’s bill signing on Tuesday about union pay restrictions. Missourinet asked Walker who’s grooming who? Walker responded with a chuckle and then continued with a general statement.

“I think we’re more than happy to help a fellow governor get up on their feet again,” said Walker. “With a Republican president, we’re focused on being good governors.”

When pressed further, Walker said he was in town for something else and having dinner with some friends.

“Eric asked me to come on by,” said Walker.

There is speculation that Greitens will seek higher office. Since taking office in January, Greitens has traveled to Washington D.C. a few times to visit with Vice President Mike Pence and other members of President Trump’s cabinet.

Greitens has also been on Fox News a few times since being sworn in. In March, Fox News Sunday and Chris Wallace chose him as its “Power Player of the Week”.

Jay Bruce singled home the game winning run in the 12th inning as the New York Mets beat the Milwaukee Brewers 5-4 on Tuesday night. For Bruce, it’s his 10th career walk-off hit and it gives the Mets the first two games of in the four-game series.

In his first career start, Mets rookie Tyler Pill pitched into the sixth inning, holding the Brewers to one run. One inning after Pill left, Asdrubal Cabrera misplayed a bases loaded pop-up on the infield allowing the tying runs to score.

The Brewers have had their chances in the series, but are now just 2 for 22 with runners in scoring position.

The Brewers have now dropped 7 of their last 10 games but maintained their game and a half lead atop the NL Central after both the Cubs and Cardinals lost again.

Game 3 of the series is tonight in New York. Jacob DeGrom (4-1, 3.23) gets the nod for the Mets. DeGrom is 4-0 in his last six starts. Junior Guerra (0-0, 3.12 ERA) gets the nod for the Brewers.

Governor Scott Walker warns that budget inaction risks costly delays to major highway projects now under construction. That was the message Walker made to lawmakers working on the state budget, during a press conference on Tuesday at an interstate rest stop in Beloit.

“A delay of a week or two like we saw two years ago will not have a . . . negative impact,” Walker said. “The big concern we have is if it were separated.”

Republican lawmakers at odds with Walker on how to pay for projects have talked of splitting off the transportation piece. “There’s no reason why, with the majorities in the Assembly and Senate, they can’t get a budget done the way that it is.”

Walker said big projects could be delayed by inaction. “Let’s just get it done. We agree that these are important projects. We agree that transportation is important. Let’s not separate it out’ let’s get it done as part of the budget as a whole.”

Asked about the possibility of open road tolling as a means to generate revenue for transportation, Walker said he could only support that if it were tied to a reduction in the gasoline tax.

Also on Tuesday, the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau reported that the state transportation fund will end the two-year budget cycle with nearly $102 million. That’s due to higher gas tax collections and lower debt service costs, and is significantly higher than the earlier projection of $8.4 million.

A Republican lawmaker wants to decriminalize possessing small amounts of Marijuana in Wisconsin. Representative Adam Jarchow of Shell Lake says the bill represents something of a journey for him — after he heard from constituents while campaigning last year.

“I was pretty surprised, by how many voters talked to me about that,” Jarchow said during a press conference at the Capitol on Tuesday. “If people in rural northwestern Wisconsin, in a conservative district, think that we need to change course, than maybe we do.”

Senator Fred Risser is a Democrat from Madison, where marijuana has already been decriminalized. “Quite frankly, it’s necessary sometimes for local units of government to move ahead of the state,” Risser said.

Jarchow’s bill would make possession of a small amount of pot a misdemeanor offense, punishable by a one hundred dollar fine. “I cannot stress how important that is, for young people who are entangled in the criminal justice system, to be able to rebuild their lives,” said the bill’s Assembly cosponsor, Milwaukee Democrat Evan Goyke.

“In a state where first offense drunk driving is not a felony, it seems to me to be pretty odd that possession of a couple joints could land you in jail or prison,” Jarchow said.

Previous efforts at decriminalizing marijuana in Wisconsin have failed to advance in the legislature.

A state Senate bill to penalize sanctuary cities is being circulated for cosponsors. The measure from Senator Steve Nass (R-Whitewater) is similar to one which passed the state Assembly last year, but never came to a vote in the Senate.

Christine Neumann Ortiz with the immigrant group Voces de la Frontera says the bill is at odds with public sentiment. “We’re rejecting the kind of xenophobia and racism and discrimination that is really being aggressively promoted,” she said.

Thousands of people rallied in Madison last year in support of immigrants — and again in February in Milwaukee. Neumann Ortiz says that’s likely to happen again. “Because I do believe this is moving forward, and we must be willing to do it again.”

The bill (SB 275) would prohibit counties and municipalities from passing ordinances, resolutions or policies that bar employees from inquiring about immigration status, notifying the federal government about anyone living in the U.S. illegally or assisting with immigration enforcement.

In the Texas legislature on Monday, a bill targeting sanctuary cities sparked protests in the Capitol, and a confrontation between two lawmakers, each of whom accused the other of threatening him.

Proposed legislation would target the demand for sex trafficking by cracking down on those who repeatedly patronize prostitutes. State Representative Joel Kleefisch (R-Oconomowoc) says the days where prostitution is viewed as a victimless crime are long past.

“Often, people do not realize that the person being prostituted is a victim of human trafficking,” Kleefisch said.

The bill would toughen criminal penalties for frequent offenders, making the third conviction a felony.

“Milwaukee and Wisconsin is a hub for human trafficking,” he said. “No action can be drastic enough to reduce the element of controlling another human being.”

The bill has bipartisan cosponsors, and Kleefisch says the state Department of Justice is also supportive.

At least eight people were killed in traffic crashes in Wisconsin over the weekend. Four of the fatalities occurred Saturday afternoon in Chippewa County.

The victims have been identified as 21-year-old Raven Ellin, 23-year-old Mikalla Toske, and 36-year-old Jonathan Jorgensen — all from Eau Claire — and 46-year-old Kristine Kummer of Medford. Five others apparently had non-life threatening injuries in the crash, which occurred near Cornell on Highway 64.

Sheriff’s deputies said the Eau Claire victims were in a minivan driven by a 23-year-old Eau Claire woman which drove past a stop sign and was hit by a truck pulling an enclosed trailer. Four of the five injured survivors were in the truck.

Four people were killed in in two separate fiery crashes in Walworth County on Sunday. In a crash that claimed three lives, sheriff’s deputies said car was driving at a high rate of speed on a rural road in the town of Lyons around 7:00 p.m. when it veered into the left ditch, hit a tree, and was engulfed in flames. Investigators said the three victims were badly burned, and have not been identified.

One man was killed in an earlier crash. Deputies said the driver of a pickup lost control on a curve and struck a metal utility pole. The truck was engulfed in flames when deputies arrived. It happened about 2:50 Sunday morning near Sharon, and the driver’s name was not immediately released.